


Little League

by jumpinjazzcat



Category: Newsies - All Media Types
Genre: "bennie stop writing so many fics", Alternate Universe - High School, Baseball, F/F, M/M, also based off of bella and the bulldogs, based off of a graphic novel, high school baseball au, no im going to because i like to overwhelm myself apparently, the author knows nothing about baseball
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:28:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28595499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jumpinjazzcat/pseuds/jumpinjazzcat
Summary: (title is subject to change)Sara grew up playing baseball with her friends. That was fine, and she still loves the game. Loves to play and watch it, especially Roosevelt High School's team. Sara tries out for her school's team. The only problem? Coach Weasel won't let her join because she's a girl and Principal Pulitzer isn't helping.
Relationships: Albert DaSilva/Racetrack Higgins, David Jacobs/Jack Kelly, Sarah Jacobs/Katherine Plumber Pulitzer
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5
Collections: newsies fics by me!





	1. Play Ball!

Sarah Jacobs has always been good at baseball.

The day that she realized she was good at it was when she was ten, playing baseball with her friends at the park's diamond. She had been the umpire all summer long, and it never occurred to her that she could play. After a few games, her friend, Racetrack, shouted to her from his spot on second base.

"Hey, Saz, why don't you play?" She had thought about it for a brief second before shrugging and taking the bat from Jack. The next few events happened in quick succession.

  1. Throwing of baseball.
  2. Sarah thinking _keep your eyes on the ball._
  3. Sarah swinging the bat.
  4. A loud crack as the bat hit the ball.
  5. The ball soaring in the air.



Going, going, gone.

All of the boys stared at her, silent. And then chaos. There was cheering, high-fives, and pats on the back. For the rest of the summer, everybody wanted Sarah Jacobs on their team.

In sixth grade, Sarah joined the softball team. 

She always felt...out of place, somehow. The softball girls were a tight-knit group, they had all been friends since birth. And Sarah never felt like she fit in. She stayed on the team anyway, though, because softball was a shit ton of fun. When she got to high school, she played for the Roosevelt High School softball team her freshman and sophomore years. She's planning to try out again this upcoming school year, as well. Or at least, she's planning to try out again at the moment. That is going to change.

See, today will be a very...eventful day for one Sarah Jacobs. 

She wakes up to her mom calling up the stairs. "Sarah, phone call for you!"

Sarah groans and heads to the hallway to grab the nearest landline. "Hello," she mumbles into the phone, "How can I help you today?"

There's only a week left of summer, and Sarah would really rather be sleeping in instead of answering this stupid phone call.

"Hi, Sarah!" says the too-perky voice of Marilyn Delancey, captain of the softball team. Sarah stifles a groan. "I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with me today? We could go get milkshakes!"

Sarah rubs her eyes, convinced that she's dreaming. See, the thing about Marilyn Delancey is that she's a huge fucking bitch. Sarah puts up with it, but it's only because she kinda has to. Marilyn is like, super popular, which Sarah doesn't really care about, but if Marilyn is mad at you, so is the entire school. Sarah does not think that facing the rage of Roosevelt High School's student body sounds fun. 

She pinches her arm, just to make sure she's awake.

She is.

"Uh, yeah, sure," she says, "Will anyone else be joining us?"

Marilyn giggles. "No, I just thought that you and I should hang out together, get closer, y'know?"

Huh.

Well, how about that?

Sarah considers backing out, for a moment, but eventually convinces herself not to. What the hell, right? What's the worst that could happen?

Apparently, the worst that could happen is Marilyn Delancey "accidentally" spilling her strawberry milkshake on Sarah. 

In front of the entire football team.

And the cheerleaders.

Sarah sits, shocked, as the milkshake slowly drips down, soaking her No Doubt t-shirt and her white skater skirt.

 _Why did I choose to wear white today?_ she asks herself.

Marilyn gasps, fake-shocked. "Ohmigod, I'm sooo sorry! That was, like, totally an accident!"

Sarah stands up very, very slowly. All of the patrons in Jacobi's Diner hold their breaths, waiting to see what'll happen next.

Silence.

And then, Marilyn Delancey is shouting in surprise as Sarah punches her right in her perfect (thanks to a plastic surgeon) nose. 

Sarah Jacobs is not a violent person. But Marilyn makes her blood boil. It's all building up, all the times Marilyn said some back-handed compliment, every time she purposefully embarrassed Sarah, every time she spread a rumor, every time she stole Sarah's clothes from the locker room. Sarah is furious.

Julie Larkson, cheer captain, runs over to help Marilyn. 

"Ohmigod, Lyn, are you okay?"

Marilyn glares at Sarah, ignoring Julie's question. "Good luck trying out for the softball team, bitch. You're definitely not getting in."

Sarah flips her off. "As if I'd want to play softball with you bitches anyway."

Marilyn sneers. "What are you gonna do? Play baseball with the boys?" She says "baseball" like she's saying "mountains of boogers."

Something in Sarah's brain clicks.

 _That's not a bad idea_ , she thinks. 

The summer is over in a flash. It's the third day of Sarah's junior year, and she's at the school's baseball diamond, waiting for baseball tryouts to start. 

"All right, boys!" the coach, Coach Weisel, shouts. He looks at Sarah quizzically, but keeps going. "We're gonna do some pitching drills first, and then hitting and fielding."

Tryouts go extremely well. Sarah mops the floor will all of the boys. And for the better half of an hour, Sarah Jacobs is on top of the world.

But as soon as tryouts are over, it all comes crashing down.

"Wow, Miss Jacobs," Weisel says, "If you were a boy, I'd let you on my team. Good job."

Sarah blinks.

"If I were a..." she says, "Sir, just let me on the team."

He laughs, one of those laughs that comes deep from your belly. "I'm not letting a girl on my baseball team."

Everyone is silent.

Sarah frowns, breathing heavily, and walks off. She rushes to the parking lot, calmly opens her car door, and sits down before closing it again. She stares out of the window for a second before letting out an angry scream.

She rests her head on the steering wheel, begging herself not to cry.

 _This is stupid_ , she thinks, _why did I think I was gonna get on the team anyway?_

After a few minutes, there's a tap on the passenger-side window. She groans, sitting up.

It's Jack Kelly.

Sarah unlocks her car to let him in.

"Pretty bold move of you to make back there, Saz."

She frowns at him. "Are you saying I shouldn't have done it?"

He grins. "No, I'm just...surprised. They're never gonna let a girl on the team, y'know."

She sighs. "I know-"

Jack holds up a hand to silence her. "That is, not if we don't do something about it. While you were having a breakdown in your car, I was coming up with a plan. Let's say, I dunno, the baseball team went on strike. Like...if you ain't playin', neither are we."

Sarah thinks about it.

"Jack...thanks for the offer, but I really don't think that's necessary."

"Too bad, we're already doing it."

Sarah groans. "The Delanceys are going to kill me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah i'm writing yet another fic, and what about it?


	2. I Wanna Play Ball Now, and That's All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> race and al's friendship is very homoerotic and sarah notices this  
> also kath finds out abt the strike and she does a lil bit of her general badassery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah the chapter title is from "I Don't Dance" from HSM2 and what about it?

Sarah Jacobs is hard to miss.

It's mostly because she's one of the tallest girls in her grade, but also she just...stands out. She walks around like she owns the place, her head held high. This morning, everyone was making fun of her for trying out for baseball, but she just kept walking, not showing a single sign that said that the teasing was bothering her. Race envies her confidence, her head-held-high attitude, the way she stays unbothered. He misses being her friend.

They used to be really close, back in elementary and some of middle school, but they grew apart after they stopped hanging out during the summers. Sarah went to an all-girls camp one summer, and Race joined Al and Jack as Boy Scouts, so they just...lost the opportunities to hang out. But this morning, Race and Al walked right next to Sarah, flipping off anyone who decided to make fun of her. They knew she didn't need them to, she's not some damsel in distress, but it was fun. Race will take any opportunity to flip people off.

Anyway. 

Since Sarah is hard to miss, Race spots her in the hallway right after the final bell rings. He rushes up to her, grinning.

"Hey, Sarah!" he says. She looks surprised at first, but smiles and gives him a little wave. "So, since we have nothing to do today, on account of the strike, y'know, messing with practice, Al and I were wondering if you wanted to hang out with us?"

"That'd be great, but," she says, pulling her phone out from the back pocket of her jeans, "I'd need to check my schedule. I dunno if Davey needs me to take Les to his acting class today, let me ask him." She texts Davey, and chews on her thumbnail as she waits for a response. It comes quickly, and she smiles. "Yeah, I can hang out."

"Cool," Race says as they head for the main lobby, "So we're gonna go over to Al's to do homework, and by do homework I mean...probably _not_ do it..." Sarah giggles. 

"What classes are you taking?" she asks, holding the door open for him. They both wave to Hannah, the front desk lady. She waves Race over, and he turns to Sarah.

"Hold that thought," he tells her, walking over to Hannah's desk. "What's up?"

"You forgot your mint," she says, opening a drawer and handing him a peppermint hard candy. He grins as she hands him a second one. "That one's for your friend."

"Thanks!" he walks back to Sarah, handing her the mint. "So what did you ask?"

"Oh, I just asked what classes you're taking. I can probably help with some of your homework."

Another thing that Race misses about being friends with Sarah: she's always willing to help you with school stuff. 

"Well, you know I'm in Humanities, 'cuz we're in the same class," he says as they walk to the parking lot, "And I have this Mythology test in Latin, about Medusa, and uh, we're reading Lord of the Flies in English but I haven't done the chapter four reading questions..." he trails off as they reach Sarah's car. 

"Well, I can help you with your work, don't worry." Sarah says, smiling when Race opens the car door for her. He slides into the passenger's seat. 

"Do you remember Al's address, or do you need me to give it to you?"

"Oh, I remember it. The red house on Wild West, right?"

Race nods.

Technically, "Wild West" Lane was originally just plain West Lane, but when Jack and his mom moved there in fifth grade, he decided to change the street sign to say "Wild West Lane," because it was the height of his cowboy phase. Nobody has ever fixed it. Al's house, the red one, is right across the street from Jack's house. A few years ago, Jack's mom decided to paint their house a pretty lilac color. That was the summer before Sarah went off to camp, and their whole friend group went over to Jack's to help him paint it. Jack was a regular Tom Sawyer, offering his friends candy and things in return for their labor. 

Sarah is a very good driver. They arrive at Al's house just as he's pulling into the driveway in his mom's minivan. He named it Frank, and it's the ugliest shade of green that anyone has ever seen. He rolls down his window as Sarah and Race walk over.

Sarah peeks her head into the window. "Your car is a mess." 

Race laughs. "It's cuz he babysits. See all those kid's books and Goldfish crackers in the backseat?"

Al is blushing as he opens the door and grabs his stuff from the passenger seat. "I'm gonna clean him out this weekend." 

Sarah groans. "Oh no, your car has _pronouns?_ Please don't tell me you named it."

"His name is Frank," Race says before Al can tell him to zip it. 

"He's my pride and joy," Al says, pulling out his key ring from his pocket (along with his house key, it has a shit ton of shrinky dink charms that the kids he babysits have made for him) and unlocking the front door. 

Race loves the smell of Al's house. His mom runs a bakery, and she's constantly testing out new recipes in the kitchen, so it always smells of cookies. Recently, she's started dating a florist, and he brings her fresh flowers every day, so it smells like flowers as well. Race thinks, distantly, that maybe he's a little too observant.

The three of them make their way to Al's study room (it used to be his dad's office before his parents got divorced) and spread their books across the table. 

"Let's get started on those reading questions," Sarah says, leaning over to Race and grabbing his notebook. 

They work for a while until they hear the doorbell ring. Al gets up and returns a few minutes later with Jack in tow.

"Hi." Jack says, smiling. Sarah grins back at him. 

"I'm starving," Al says, "Let's go get something to eat."

They all nod and get up, rushing towards the kitchen. Race is hauling ass because Al always has the best snacks, and he knows that there's only one bag of fruit gummies left. He snatches it from the cupboard, and Al glares at him, trying to grab it.

They end up having a sort of wrestling match for the bag of gummies, and a few minutes later, Race emerges, victorious, holding the bag above his head and grinning. Sarah and Jack watch them, laughing at their childlike manner. 

"Fine, you win," Al says as Race finishes off the last of the gummies. Jack high-fives him.

"Al, did you do the math homework?" Jack asks. 

"Yeah, I did it, do you need help with it?" Jack nods, and he and Al go back to the study room. Sarah looks at Race, raising her eyebrows.

"You and Al sure are touchy-feely, huh?" she asks. Race shrugs, taking a sip of water. "How long have you guys been together?"

He spits out his water, sputtering. "I'm sorry?"

Sarah's eyebrows go up further. "Oh, are you not..."

"No, we're not...dating."

"Oh. Well. You do know that you have a crush on him, right?"

Race laughs. "Me? Have a crush on Al? No. We're just. Best friends, y'know?"

Sarah smiles softly. "People probably ask you this a lot, right?"

Race shrugs again. "I guess. It was worse in middle school, back when any form of physical affection between friends meant you were in love with them. But it's better now."

"You might not know it, but you definitely have a crush on him."

Race rolls his eyes. "Trust me, I don't."

Sarah pats his shoulder. "Sure, Race, whatever you say." 

* * *

Race is trying to pay attention in Stagecraft, but Katherine keeps throwing wadded-up balls of paper at him.

"Tony," she whispers, "Tony!"

He whips his head around, sighing. "Yes, Katherine?"

See, the thing about Kath is that she's always...well. In the know. Chances are, if she's speaking to you, it's because she wants to write an article about you for the school newspaper. Race _hates_ when Kath tries to get all journalist-y on him.

"What's the deal with Sarah?" she asks, moving into the chair next to him. He sighs again.

"Katherine, can't you ask her yourself?"

"Well, I thought it'd be easier to ask you! You know, because we're friends and all."

Race considers this for a moment. Are he and Kath friends? They probably were, at one point, back when Kath was dating Jack in sophmore year. But are they...still friends?

He decides that it's probably in his best interest to be on Kath's good side, so he says, "Yeah, we _are_ friends, aren't we?"

She nods, pulling a purple notebook out from her bag and retrieving a pencil from her cat-shaped pencil case.

"Well. The story is that Sarah had a fight with Marilyn Delancey, so Marilyn was all 'you better not try out for softball this year' and Sarah was like 'oh as if I was gonna try out anyway' and then Sarah tried out for baseball. Well, Weasel wouldn't let 'er on the team, so Al and I talked to Jack, and he convinced the team-except for Oscar and Morris, of course- to go on strike. I'm pretty sure his exact words were 'well, if Sarah ain't playin', then neither are we.'"

Kath nods, signaling for him to go on as she writes in her notebook.

"That's pretty much it," he says, "But I'll let you know if there's any updates."

"Here," Kath writes something down on a piece of paper, ripping it out and handing it to Race, "That's my number. That way, you can just text me any updates."

Race puts her in his contacts, sending her a text so she has his number. 

"Thanks, Tony!" she smiles as the bell rings.

"Always a pleasure, Kath."

Later that day, Race's phone rings. It's Kath. Race picks up.

"So, you know how my dad is the principal?" she asks, not even bothering with a hello. She also doesn't bother to wait for an answer. "Well, I thought 'hey, maybe Dad can convince Coach Weisel to let Sarah on the team!' But he refused, as I probably should've expected. Now, you're probably wondering why I'm telling you this-"

"Yeah, why _are_ you telling me this? Kinda discouraging to hear this bad news-"

"Shush. Okay so. Luckily for us, my aunt is a lawyer, and she has very influential friends. I looked over the code of conduct and the rules for all of the sports teams, and guess what?"

"What?"

" _Nowhere in the rules does it say that a girl can't be on the team._ "

Race grins. "Katherine, you are a genius."

He can practically hear her smiling as she thanks him before hanging up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha yeah i didnt update for like...two weeks and what about it  
> my friend lenny came up with the idea for al's car (frank). we have so much written about frank it's ridiculous......im about to write an entire al-centric chapter just so i can write more abt frank


End file.
